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Andrew A. Kness

Senior Agent


Agricultural Science Agent

Home Office

Harford County 3525 Conowingo Road Suite 600 Street, MD 21154
410-638-3255

County Extension Director (interim)

Harford County 3525 Conowingo Road Suite 600 Street, MD 21154
410-638-3255

Affiliate Faculty

Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture 2102 Plant Sciences Building 4291 Fieldhouse Drive College Park, MD 20742

Expertise

  • Agronomy
  • Plant Pathology
  • Pasture Management
  • Diseases of Field Crops
  • Soils

Education

  • M.S. - Plant Pathology, University of Delaware
  • B.S. - Plant Science, University of Delaware

Andy joined University of Maryland Extension (UME) in 2016 and is the agriculture extension educator for Harford County, with additional responsibilities in Baltimore and Carroll County. Andy is a native of Harford County and has a broad agricultural background in agronomy, plant science, plant pathology, horticulture, vegetable production, and entomology. Prior to joining UME, Andy worked as a research associate with University of Delaware Cooperative Extension working with plant disease issues in agronomic and vegetable crops, as well as insect integrated pest management (IPM) in nurseries. Andy received his M.S. in plant pathology from the University of Delaware (UD) in 2015, and his B.S. in plant science and environmental soil science from UD in 2012. Andy's program in UME focuses on making commercial growers more productive, profitable, and sustainable through agriculture education and applied research.

Journal Publications

  1. Kness, A.A. (2024). Effect of foliar fungicides on frogeye leaf spot in three Maryland geographies, 2023. Plant Disease Management Reports, Vol. 18. APS Crop Protection and Management Collection. https://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/trial/pdmr/volume18/abstracts/CF090.asp
  2. Kness, A.A. (2023). Effect of foliar fungicides on frogeye leaf spot in three Maryland geographies, 2022. Plant Disease Management Reports, Vol. 17. APS Crop Protection and Management Collection. https://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/trial/pdmr/volume17/abstracts/CF060.asp
  3. Kleczewski, N.M., A.A. Kness, and A. Koehler. (2022). Impacts of row spacing and fungicide timing on foliar disease, greenstem and yield in double cropped soybeans grown in the Chesapeake Bay region of the United States. Plant Health Progress, (23)2. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHP-10-21-0130-BR
  4. Kness, A.A. (2021). Effect of foliar fungicides on frogeye leaf spot in Northwestern Maryland, 2020. Plant Disease Management Reports, Vol. 15. APS Crop Protection and Management Collection. https://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/trial/pdmr/volume15/abstracts/CF239.asp
  5. Kness, A.A. (2021). Effect of foliar fungicides on frogeye leaf spot on the Maryland Eastern Shore, 2020. Plant Disease Management Reports, Vol. 15. APS Crop Protection and Management Collection. https://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/trial/pdmr/volume15/abstracts/CF238.asp
  6. Kness, A.A., S.P. Dill, J.L. Rhodes, E.N. Crowl, K.M. Nichols, S.M. Hirsh, C. Wang, E. Zobel, A.W. Leslie, B.R. Butler, B.E. Beale, and R.D. Myers. (2021). Educating Traditional Clientele with Non-Traditional Methods: Virtual Agriculture Production Meetings Engage Producers and Measure COVID-19 Impacts at the Farm Level. Journal of The National Association of County Agricultural Agents, (14)1. Available online: https://www.nacaa.com/journal/index.php?jid=1202
  7. Kness, A.A., S.P. Dill, and T. McCoy. (2020). Virtual Plant Clinics Cultivate Knowledge and Transfer Knowledge in Extension. Journal of Extension, (58)3. Available online: https://archives.joe.org/joe/2020june/iw4.php
  8. Kness, A.A., G.C. Johnson, K.L. Everts, T.A. Evans, N.M. Donofrio, and E.G. Ernest. (2016). Managing pod rot of lima bean caused by Phytophthora capsici with fungicides in the mid-Atlantic region. Plant Health Progress, June 2016. doi: doi.org/10.1094/PHP-BR-16-0015
  9. Kness, A.A., and N.M. Kleczewski. (2016). Evaluation of residual activity of fungicides on downy mildew of lima bean in Delaware, 2015. Plant Disease Management Reports, Vol. 10. APS Crop Protection and Management Collection. https://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/trial/pdmr/volume10/abstracts/V089.asp

Extension Fact Sheets

  1. Dill, S., Newton, S., Kness, A., & Rhodes, J. (2024). University of Maryland Extension Winter Meeting Data 2022 (FS-2022-0642). University of Maryland Extension. go.umd.edu/FS- 2022-0642.
  2. Crowl, E.N., A.A. Kness, H.M. Sater, D.P. Seifrit, J.G. Jones, S.P. Dill, E. Zobel, D. Behnke, J.L. Rhodes, J. Semler, B.R. Butler, V. Rosenkranz, E. Ingianni, and R. Lindgren. (2021). Pesticide Safety Education Private Applicator Recertification Workbook. University of Maryland Extension Brief #: 2021-0594. Available online: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/pesticide-safety-educ-private-applicator-recert-workbook 
  3. Morris, J.M., N.G. Little, A.E. Chan, A.A. Kness, and J.M. Ketterman. (2020). A Tenure Track Cohort Case Study. University of Maryland Extension Fact Sheet #: FS-1103. Available online: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/tenure-track-cohort-case-study-0
  4. Kness, A.A. and N.M. Fiorellino. (2020). What do the numbers really mean? Interpreting variety trial results. University of Maryland Extension Fact Sheet #: FS-1119. Available online: http://hdl.handle.net/1903/29703
  5. Kness, A.A., P. Coffey, and B.R. Butler. (2019). Hops Production in Maryland: 2017-2018 Hops Trial Growing Season Report and Best Management Practices. University of Maryland Extension Fact Sheet #: FS-1091. Available online: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/hops-production-maryland-2017-2018-hops-trial-growing-season-report-and-best-management-practices
  6. Kness, A.A. (2018). General Recommendations for Managing Nematodes in Field Crops. University of Maryland Extension Fact Sheet #: 2018-0455. Available online: https://doi.org/10.13016/fhfr-qewi